Chapter Text
Eight Months Later
“All right, Cap.” Bucky reached out, checking the buckles of Steve’s shield. “You ready?” He met his gaze, tugging his gun up a little higher onto his bared shoulder.
Steve grinned, then arranged his expression into a steely one, nodding as he straightened. “Ready,” he agreed, glancing past Bucky to the painting hanging on the wall- the group scene of the Avengers in their HvZ gear, the gear he’d made notes on eight months earlier during their first game. They were fighting real zombies in the painting, and the one getting its jaw kicked off by Bucky always strangely reminded people of Brock Rumlow.
Steve hefted his shield. “Everyone else downstairs?”
“All ready and waiting.” He grinned at him, catching the back of Steve’s neck and drawing him closer for a kiss. “Rumor is Nat’s gonna be an OZ. You ready to fight your way out?”
“Oh, Jesus.” Steve stared at him. “If Nat’s an OZ, none of us have a chance. Is Clint twitchy as hell?” He paused, then started laughing. “Tony’s so excited about his new costume and Nat’s going to nail his ass night one. Oh my god, maybe we can buy her off for a night.”
“They could all be dead already.” Bucky’s eyes sparkled and Steve made a cross over his chest. “It’s us against them all until the twenty-four hour mark, doll.”
Steve reached up and curled his fingers into Bucky’s jacket, pulling him down to kiss him again slowly. “Okay,” he said when they broke apart to breathe, a little light-headed. Funnily, that hadn’t changed in the last eight months; kissing Bucky still made him lose his brain half the time. “Okay. You and me for the next twenty-four hours.”
Bucky’s hands wandered down Steve’s sides, his smile slow and brilliant, and he kissed Steve again before pulling back. “Let’s go meet the team,” he said, and sauntered comfortably out the door, letting his mask dangle from one ear.
Thor called out a greeting when they exited the dorm, already raising his hammer to do the usual first-night stun shots, and Bucky tugged Steve into his side, lips brushing his ear in a soft kiss. “That’ll be your feed code, gorgeous,” he murmured, and then lunged for the rest.
Steve stared after him as the team yelled, scattering and shooting, then burst into laughter. Bucky was an OZ, of course he was. Steve pulled the straps of his shield around his chest and ran after Thor, who, as per usual, didn’t see Steve as a threat and so wasn’t paying attention to where he was.
Maybe he would after this.